Into the Abyss
by Moonstone 04
Summary: [XS2] Sequel to From the Abyss Amidst great change in the galaxy, Elsa's pilot is dealing with changes of his own. A new ship, a new crew, and...new rivals? Tonyxchaos yaoi [inprogress]
1. Karma and Coincidence

Into the Abyss   
by Moonstone 04

-

Author's Notes: Episode 2 has finally arrived! This fic contains XS2 spoilers as well as yaoi content, with Tony/chaos as the main focus. You've been warned.

This fic is a sequel to "From the Abyss." It picks up the morning after Tony's big flashback, which was what the last fic was. It's also the morning after the dive into MOMO's encephalon, when all hell broke loose.

This is the R-rated edition of this fic. The original, NC-17 version of this fic is only being posted at Xenoyaoi at yahoogroups.

-

Chapter 1 - Karma and Coincidence

It had to be karma. That was the only explanation for why he was leaning over the bathroom sink, staring at the drain so he wouldn't see how red and puffy his eyes were. It was embarassing. He didn't cry like some chick. He was a grown man, he was stronger than that. But there he was, no doubt under the curse of every port girl he had ever had a one-night stand with. His grandmother had once told him that what you gave always came back to you, and he was beginning to believe it.

Turning the faucet back on, Tony stuck his head under it, letting the water stream down his blond hair. Had to get clean, he could still smell him on himself. He couldn't let himself dwell on it. He needed to erase chaos from his mind and move on, as surely as chaos was moving on.

There was something important chaos was here to do, Tony had known that for a long time. Something far more important than watching over some little freighter. He had known he would have to let go someday, and that day was drawing near, he could feel it. It was sooner than he had hoped, but those were the breaks.

More than ever, he needed to pull himself together. chaos had been a wreck last night. The attempt to retrieve the Y-data from MOMO had gone very badly, due to a virus implanted by Albedo. There had been an emergency encephalon dive into her subconscious to repair the damage, and chaos had gone with them. They had managed to save MOMO, but Albedo had taken the Y-Data.

The constant fighting was beginning to take a toll on chaos. The angelic boy appeared tireless, but Tony knew he was growing emotionally weary of it. He could see it in his eyes.

Pulling himself up, and pulling himself together, Tony turned off the faucet. At least he had been able to give chaos some form of comfort. He stepped into the shower and turned on the spray. He sighed as the spray stung at his skin, reminding him of the sensation of chaos...

He was almost done showering when Matthews bellowed through the Comm. Sounded really worked up about something, but Tony took his time getting out. After getting out of the bathroom and getting dressed, he picked up a long silver chain from his bedside. Sliding the cold metal through his fingers, the dogtags at the end caught between his fingers. Both had chaos' name etched into them. A recent gift from chaos that Tony was now never without. Slipping the long chain over his head, he finally headed for the bridge.

-

"Tony, what the hell took you?"

"I was in the shower, Captain, I got here as fast as I could." Tony explained calmly, tucking his hands into his pockets as he walked onto the bridge.

"Don't give me excuses." Captain Matthews grouched. "We've got big problems."

"That's putting it lightly." Jr said grimly.

Tony turned to look at Jr, who was standing in the middle of the bridge. That's when he noticed two unfamiliar men with him. Like most of the people the Elsa ran into lately, they had a strange look about them.

One was wearing a black dragon-print kimono and sandals, which you certainly didn't see everyday. Not to mention the sword at his waist... What was up with that? His long black hair was tied back into a ponytail, leaving some of it hanging down to frame his face. His face had a serious appearance, but something about the eyes was constantly dancing. His good looking features made him seem a bit younger than he actually was. There was a sense of serenity about him.

The other one was constantly fidgeting and looking about impatiently. He appeared to be a realian, probably a combat model of some sort from the military jumpsuit he was wearing. His reddish hair was more unruly than any other realian Tony had seen. It nearly covered the cold golden eyes that looked back at the pilot. He had the appearance of being in his late teens, but you could never tell with realians.

Jr explained that Albedo had used the Y-data extracted from MOMO to open the gate to Old Miltia. Uh oh, Tony could already see where this was going. Whenever there was some kind of crazy, dangerous mission that no one else in their right mind would do, the Kukais always came to the Elsa. It wasn't like they could refuse, not with the huge debt the Captain owed them.

"It's of utmost importance that we get to the Zohar first. I don't know how much time we have, so we have to move as quickly as possible. I'm counting on you guys getting the Elsa back in shipshape within the next week." said Jr.

"Wait, wait," Matthews interrupted, "you can't be serious? You know how much damage the Elsa took out there, and we just barely got into port!"

"Sorry guys, we just haven't got a choice." Jr put his hands on his hips and turned towards the two strangers. "This is Jin Uzuki," he said, nodding towards the one in the kimono, "and this is Canaan." He nodded to the realian. "Helmer's sent them on a mission of their own in Old Miltia, so they'll be coming along for the ride."

Captain Matthews sighed, and straightened his hat importantly. "Well, if anyone can get you guys to Miltia and back in one piece, it's the Great Matthews. You can count on the Elsa, we'll be ready."

"Good to hear it." Jr smirked.

The Great Matthews indeed... Tony slouched a little. What did he do other than sit around in the Captain's chair barking orders? Who was it that flew the ship? Who was it who always managed to pilot the Elsa through danger time and time again with his mad skillz? 

The Great Tony, that's who!

"What's the matter, you scared?"

Huh? Tony broke out of his thoughts when the realian spoke to him. That Canaan guy. He spoke in a cold monotone, but it still felt like a taunt to Tony. "Scared? Not a chance! I live for danger."

The realian tilted his head doubtfully. "Really. Because I'm more than capable of piloting the Elsa myself if you're not up to this mission." 

That arrogant realian bastard! Who did he think he was? "Hey, no one pilots the Elsa but me! Wherever she goes, I go!" Tony literally put his foot down. "I don't care what fancy pants programming you've got, no one born yesterday can cut it when the going gets as rough as we've seen it!"

Canaan's eyes actually seemed to twitch a little, but nothing more. One of those unemotional types. His gaze flickered down to Tony's dogtags. He was opening his mouth to speak, when Jin put his hand on the realian's shoulder.

"I can assure you Canaan has suitable experience." Jin smiled, making his eyes dance even more. "But we won't get in your way, a ship is always best handled by its own crew." He released Canaan, but the realian was still staring hard at Tony. The blank expression was unnerving.

"Yeah, stuff it, Tony." Captain Matthews growled and shook his head. Hammer snickered, but that only earned him a swat in the back of the head with the Captain's hat. "That goes for you too!"

"Right." Jr looked around himself. "We've all got preparations to take care of. I'll be in touch." He looked a little preoccupied as he left the bridge, no doubt worried about MOMO. Tony knew the feeling...

"We'd better go see to certain arrangements as well." Jin said. "Nice meeting all of you, we'll also be in touch, very soon." 

"This is madness." Matthews said after Jin and Canaan had left the bridge. "Opening up Miltia, are they insane?"

"Well, it is Albedo." Tony reminded him.

"I can't believe we're doing this." Hammer muttered. "What'd we ever do to end up in this mess? We're just a cargo freighter!"

"This is bound to get extremely messy, and I'm sure as hell not going in there without Elsa properly prepared this time." Matthews looked at Tony. "Where's chaos? I thought he was here."

"He left early this morning," Hammer piped up. "I saw him before he left, he was going to check on MOMO. Maybe he's still at the UMN center."

Tony nodded, so that's why chaos had been gone when he'd woken up. Then something else sparked in his memory. "Wait a minute, that guy's name was Uzuki? I wonder if he's related to Shion."

"Jin's her brother. It's in her personal data." Hammer grinned smugly.

A big brother who carried around a sword... Yikes. Tony filed that away as a major hazard to watch out for if he ever tried flirting with Shion again. "Man, it's a small world." Tony rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"I've had my fill of coincidences to last a lifetime. Let's just get down to business already." Matthews said gruffly. "Hammer, you're coming with me. We'll get back to assessing the Elsa's damage. We still haven't sorted out what the hell happened to the engine during descent." He pointed to Tony. "You go find chaos, and the two of you go hunt down as many droids as you can. And keep it cheap. We need as many hands as we can get to make this work faster, but I don't want to break us any more than necessary."

Tony wondered if it was even possible to be even further in debt than they were. And considering how bad the debt was, he wondered how in the world they were going to repair the Elsa on their credit. "Aye, Captain."  



	2. Perceptions

Into the Abyss  
by Moonstone 04

* * *

Author's Notes: This fic contains XS2 spoilers as well as yaoi content, with Tony/chaos as the main focus. You've been warned.

This fic is a sequel to "From the Abyss." I'd like to take this moment to say, yes, I'm aware of episode 2's absolutely awesome minor npcs. A few of them will be present in this fic. XD Whomever catches what happens at the very end of this chapter before it's revealed next time, gets a cookie.

This is the R-rated edition (I guess that's M-rated now?) of this fic. The original, NC-17 version of this fic is only being posted at Xenoyaoi at yahoogroups.

* * *

Chapter 2 - Perceptions

It turned out that Tony didn't need to go all the way out to the UMN Center to find chaos. Just outside the spaceport, Tony was instantly drawn to the gleam of sunlight on silver hair. chaos was sitting back on a sidewalk bench, his arms resting over the backside. His eyes were closed, but his head was thrown back as if he were looking at the sky. chaos' brows were furrowed like something was bothering him, but it might have been nothing more than the sun beating down on them.

"If you were tired, you should've come back to the Elsa." Tony gave chaos' shoulder a squeeze. "How are you holding out?"

The eyes were always the first thing anyone noticed about chaos. Even after all this time, Tony was still taken by them. Dazzling blue, with depths that would be frightening if not for the gentleness they exuded. chaos looked up at him, his face relaxing into a smile. "I just wanted a little fresh air."

"Hmn. How's MOMO?" Tony sat next to him.

"She's still a little shaken, but she'll be okay. She certainly is stronger than she looks." Although he was smiling, a little of the weariness came back into chaos' eyes. "I'm glad she was able to pull through, but..."

"The Y-data. Yeah... Looks like we still have a long road ahead of us. The Little Master came by with new orders."

"I know, I talked to him this morning. I imagine the Captain must be frantic. The Elsa wasn't meant for missions like these. She was only designed to be a little yacht. We're using her like a battleship."

"She's always managed to pull through before."

"Yes, but I think she's reaching her limits." chaos trailed into a mumble, as if he was talking to himself.

Tony shrugged. "Not much we can do about it. The Captain wants us to go round up some cheap droids to help with the repairs. I was thinking we should head over to the Foundation. Things are way too expensive planetside."

"Sounds good." Leather creaked as chaos stood and stretched. In light of all the recent fighting, he had taken to wearing more durable clothing. But it was as tight-fitting and sexy as ever. If Tony didn't know chaos was near obsessed with covering up, he would think he was a sadistic tease.

* * *

From the spaceport, they boarded a ferryship to the Kukai Foundation. There was very little traffic at that time of day, so their ship was nearly deserted. Tony and chaos took the seats at the very back.

"I've been meaning to ask, when did you get a haircut?" Tony asked. Usually chaos' hair was uncontrollable, sticking up defiantly on top. Now it was calm and restrained, giving the silver-haired boy a more mature outward appearance.

"Haircut?" chaos looked genuinely confused. "I haven't had a haircut in a while... Not since last month. You cut it, remember?"

"Then are you using gel?" Tony patted the top of chaos' head. Soft as silk, but no sign of any suspicious haircare product.

"Tony, there's nothing different about my hair. I think I've always worn it this way."

There it was again. That feeling that something wasn't right. What bothered Tony was that he was sure that chaos wasn't lying to him. "chaos, you usually can't keep your hair down at all. You had to have done something."

There was an anxious light in chaos' eyes, but he just smiled and shook his head. "I've been thinking, maybe we should look into seriously upgrading the Elsa. I know someone on the Foundation who might be able to help us."

"Huh? Hold on, we're only supposed to get some droids. I don't know what you're thinking of, but we don't have the time or money for it!"

"If we have time to worry about my hair, we have time for this." chaos gave Tony a reassuring smile. "I just want to look into it first. Calm down, everything's okay."

"I'm calm." Tony said gruffly. "It's just that you've been gone the last few days... I was just trying to catch up a little. Did you even know about the new guys that came onboard today?"

Tony hadn't expected chaos to actually look surprised. "Jr didn't mention anything about that. Just that he was taking the Elsa into Old Miltia to recover the Zohar. I suppose he might want to take some of his personal crew..."

"Nah, no one I've ever seen before." Tony interrupted. "Two of Helmer's guys. One of them is Shion's brother, can you believe that? The other is some weird weapons-grade realian with orange hair."

"Is that so?" chaos gave a soft sigh and closed his eyes. "I guess it can't be helped," he murmured. "We'll need all the help we can get." Leaning against Tony, he rested his head on his shoulder.

All of Tony's concerns flitted away instantly. He slipped his arm around chaos' waist and snuggled him closer. chaos clasped his hand over Tony's, as if seeking something to anchor himself with.

* * *

For a place that had been recently trashed by a gnosis invasion, the Kukai Foundation was looking better than ever. But that was the wonder of modern nanomachines for you. As they walked through, there were a lot of people who came running over to chaos, thanking him. Some of them were even crying. It was something else. chaos looked a little embarassed, but he just smiled and greeted them, asking how they were doing. This sort of thing slowed them down quite a bit.

"You've gotten pretty popular." Tony grinned.

"It wasn't much, the others helped during the evacuation more than I did." chaos seemed to be shrinking to one side of Tony.

"Uh huh..."

It took longer than expected, but they finally reached the far side of the foundation. This place was once roaring with activity, but unlike other areas, it wasn't recovering as quickly. There was still the sounds of metal echoing off of metal and machinery whirring as pilots fixed their mechs. But since the invasion, there were soberingly few left of those that had once docked there.

Tony and chaos walked down the dock, finding most of the old machine shops had closed down. Those that were left had little to sell. Some places could promise them something in a week, but they didn't have that kind of time. Tony was starting to worry, but chaos didn't seem bothered. In fact, he didn't seem very expectant at all when Tony stopped at any of the shops. Those blue eyes were always turning further down the street.

Tony came out of the last shop on the street, once again empty-handed. He noticed on the way out that chaos hadn't even come in with him this time. It was just an afterthought, he was more worried about where else they could go find cheap droids. If they were forced to go get something off of Second Miltia, they were screwed.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, Tony looked up and down the street. There had to be something... He found chaos around a dark corner. It was a dead end, appropriately enough. "Still no luck," Tony griped. "I thought this would be the most likely place, but I guess we'll have to check out some of the other sectors." As he stepped closer, he realized that chaos was peering down a dark stairwell. "...Huh?"

"It's the Robot Academy." chaos glanced up through his silvery hair. "Or at least it was. Doesn't look like anyone's home."

"Is this what you were looking for?"

"Yeah. Strange place, but it had some really good equipment."

That long dark stairwell was kinda creepy, but Tony was desperate. If nothing else, maybe they could find some abandoned junk or something. "Well...guess it's worth a look." Taking the lead, he headed down the stairs.

The noise of the street above faded away as they descended into pitch black. Their footsteps were loud and echoing in the silence. The echoes gave Tony the impression that the place they were walking into was very large. Nearing the bottom, they were illuminated by dismal neon light. Still, it was better than being in the dark.

It was nearly impossible to make out anything around them, it just looked like collections of dark, looming shapes. If chaos hadn't been there, Tony would have been a lot more nervous. He tried to remind himself that all the gnosis in the foundation had been disposed of.

Suddenly, a red light flared to life in front of them. Before Tony could really figure out what he was seeing, chaos slammed into him, sending them both sliding across the floor. A high-pitched squeal and a flash went through the air where they had been.

"Professor, have you gone out of your mind? Give me that!" An unfamiliar voice yelled.

"Assistant Scott, give that back! You're too naive to understand what's going on here! We must defend the Robot Academy!" It sounded like an old guy.

Shaken, it took Tony a moment to be sure he was still in one piece. Then he carefully sat up, taking chaos with him. "You okay? Did someone just shoot at us?" He could see two dark figures nearby, apparently arguing with each other.

"Yes and yes." chaos' glowing blue eyes locked closely with his, and Tony felt the familiar ache in his gut. Having him this close and sitting on him was bringing up memories of the night before. Those same luminescent eyes burning as he... Maybe chaos realized what he was doing to him, because he quickly looked away and stood up, helping Tony as well. "Are you okay?"

"Thanks to you." Tony glared at the two figures. "Hey! What the hell was that all about? Who are you people?"

"Uh, Tony..."

The two figures turned to look at Tony. One was short and squat, and was wearing round reflective glasses that made him look like an animal caught in headlights. The other had a build that reminded Tony a little of chaos.

"Who are we?" The little old man was hopping up and down in a rage now. "Who are you? I thought you were a gnosis! What kind of person skulks around in the dark like that?"

"You mean like you were doing?" Tony fumed.

"Professor, I'm sorry for intruding, but we need your help again." chaos interjected. "Our ship needs heavy repairs in a very short amount of time, so we're looking for some droids."

"Cheap droids." Tony added with gruff emphasis. His blood was still boiling, but he wasn't about to pick a fight with an old guy and some kid.

"Cheap droids?" The Professor stepped closer. "You should know better than to look for something like that here! Here at the Robot Academy, we only produce the greatest quality robots the universe has ever seen! Isn't that right, Assistant Scott?"

"Well, we do have all those old droids in the back..." Assistant Scott scratched his head and looked back into the shadows.

"That's not what I asked!"

"Does it matter? We need the money, if we don't have it by tomor-"

"Quiet! Let me handle this!" Professor snapped.

"So does this mean you'll sell to us?" chaos asked.

"Of course!" Professor waved his hand as if brushing away Assistant Scott like an annoying bug. This just caused the young man to roll his head a bit as he turned his back to them. "But such fine Robot Academy grade droids come at a high price, as you might imagine, having seen my work."

Before chaos could say anything, Tony put a hand on his shoulder and pressed himself in front. "Don't rip us off, old man!"

The old guy jumped and cringed back a little. Then he puffed himself up as much as he could. "Well, I never! How dare you insult the pride of the Robot Academy! I have half a mind to send you away, even if your companion has helped me with my great miss-"

"Just sell, damn it!" Assistant Scott whirled around. "You stubborn old jackass, if you care about the future of the Academy, just this once...!"

Tony was surprised, the kid hadn't seemed like the assertive type.

"You owe it to them." In a more controlled tone, Assistant Scott went on. "You did nearly kill them a moment ago. Sometimes I wonder if you really are going senile, you know all the gnosis were driven off."

Professor made a sound almost like a hiss. Tony never thought he'd actually see someone who was literally hopping mad. "Fine!" The old man spat. "Bring them out! It's not like we'll be needing them anymore!"

"Thank you." chaos said quietly as Assistant Scott disappeared into the shadows. "I know they'll be worth the price."

"Wait a minute..." Tony started to break in, but chaos' hand on his chest effectively silenced further argument.

* * *

Despite nearly killing him, the Professor wasn't that bad a guy after all. In the end, there were far more droids than Tony expected. A good deal for the price, so it all worked out. It was agreed that the droids would be picked up tomorrow once transportation was arranged. Trying to ferry that many droids through the streets was just asking for trouble. In Tony's experience, droids could be as unpredictable as a meteor shower.

Before leaving, chaos had started talking to the Professor about upgrading the ship. He had to admit that some of the old guy's ideas sounded pretty good, but Tony had no choice but to put his foot down as far as that was concerned. The Captain would absolutely kill them.

"I hope they're alright. I've never seen the Robot Academy powered down like that before." chaos was perched on a street railing, overlooking one of the Foundation's artificial waterways.

"Hmph." Tony crossed his arms across the railing. "Well, that whole sector is looking pretty bad these days. At least we got the job done."

"Mm. I didn't hit you too hard, did I?"

"Nah, I'm fine." Tony closed his eyes as if relaxing. Truth was, he was still a little sore, but nothing to complain about. "Thanks again. I guess I have a bad habit of getting in front of those things.

chaos was very quiet, and Tony wondered if he shouldn't have put it that way. Several years ago, Tony had been shot during an invasion of the Elsa. It had been an extremely rough moment for all of them, but it seemed to shake chaos the most. That was when chaos had finally opened up to him, at least, as much as he ever did.

Finally, chaos chuckled softly. "Yeah, you do."

Tony opened his eyes to see chaos hop down from the railing. The pilot rubbed a hand back through his messy blond hair with a sigh. "So, want to get back to Second Miltia? Or do you want to hang around here some more?"

"Now that you mention it, there is one place I wanted to stop at."

* * *

The Foundation was already into its night cycle by the time Tony heard the muted roar of the waves. He had heard the Kukai private beach was completed, but he had been too busy when Jr had invited the crew and guests last time. It was really impressive for an artificial structure.

"So this is what you wanted to show me?" Tony looked out at the water. Starlight and artificial moonlight glimmered on the gentle waves.

"Among other things." chaos had a mischievious tone.

Looking away from the water, Tony saw chaos was stripping. "H-Hey! What are you doing, what if someone comes out here!"

"This is a private beach, no one else will come out here." chaos pulled off his heavy boots. "Everyone else with access is busy on Second Miltia right now. We're completely alone."

Even so, Tony looked up and down the beach nervously. "I don't know..."

Metal buttons snapped, and the sound pulled the blond's eyes back to his lover. chaos was wriggling out of his leather gear in a way that made him instantly break into a sweat. Arguing was falling further and further from his mind by the moment.

By the time chaos had pulled out of his bodysuit, leaving his smooth dark skin bared to the starlight, Tony had started pulling off his tanktop. Those glowing blue eyes gave him a rare, sultry look, before the lithe youth ran off into the surf.

"Wha... Wait up!" Tony kicked off his boots and gave chase.

Hopping as much as jogging after him, Tony threw his discarded clothes up onto the beach. chaos continued to lead him on, until they were nearly treading water.

Finally, Tony reached out and chaos embraced him. His breath caught at the almost painful electric sensation that surged through him, as their bare skin touched. Even when aroused, chaos' strange aura was usually painless under normal conditions, but the water seemed to enhance it somehow. Not that Tony minded; the extra kick was actually stimulating in a good way.

chaos' hands played back through wet, strawberry blond hair as he leaned in to bite on Tony's lower lip. In return, the pilot grabbed chaos' hips and thrust roughly against him. Silver hair whipped back as his angel arched in ecstacy. chaos' eyes were tightly closed as he fought for control.

With a soft moan, Tony kissed his trembling mouth, thrusting again and again with both tongue and hips. He wasn't going to give chaos a chance to recover, he wanted to drown him in pleasure. Sure enough, chaos' electric aura was biting at him, and the water around them was swirling with an unseen force.

Strong arms grasped desperately at Tony's back as chaos writhed and bucked against him. Even in the cold night water, he was hot to the touch. Tony liked to think he was the one in control, but he knew he was crushing into chaos as hard as chaos was crushing into him. They were quickly spiraling down into a singularity of desire and heat.

"Back to shore." chaos' normally soft voice was harsh with need. "Take me now."

"Anything, beautiful."

This prompted an amused smile from chaos that only made Tony want him even more. Tony and chaos swam back towards shore. They weren't even past the surf when chaos playfully pulled Tony down into the wet sand. It wasn't the most graceful of landings, but it put them into the position they wanted.

Wind and breath. The tide pulling him back, and chaos pulling him in... Was it sea spray or sweat that covered them now? He wasn't even sure if the gentle silver glow was really from the starlight or from the silver hair spread out on the sand. There didn't seem to be any difference at all...

Their fingers clenched together, straining in the dark sand.

Aquamarine eyes blazed into him...

It suddenly clicked in Tony's mind what had truly bothered him the night before. It was the same now. The look in chaos' eyes. His eyes were so intense, that it was almost too much to meet their gaze. But it wasn't just that they were intense. It was the unsettling feeling that even though they were looking straight into each others eyes, chaos wasn't seeing him...

Look at me...

Look at me like that...

Then chaos slowly arched and trembled...

Who do you see when you look at me like that...?

Feeling the strange surge of energy bursting through him, Tony closed his eyes and threw his head back. Shuddering, he let himself forget his worries for a few minutes, and just let the warm pleasure take him away.

* * *

The two of them were slow in returning to the Elsa. The way they stumbled along in each others arms, barely able to walk, no doubt they were mistaken for a pair of drunken sailors as they made their way up the Spaceport dock.

On Second Miltia, the sun was still high in the sky, but Tony was ready to call it a day. There was still work at hand, but there wasn't much they could do until they got the droids into order. Yeah. All he wanted to do right now was to hold chaos and sleep for a couple of hours.

Reaching the Elsa's airlock, they fell against the door, clinging to each other. He stroked chaos' damp hair, so much like flowing mercury. "So are you feeling better now?"

chaos made a soft contented sound. "For now. If we make it back to the cabin without being caught, I could be up for another round." His gloved hand etched its way down Tony's chest, before grabbing a handful of tanktop in his fist. Like magic, Tony felt the heat rush to his face and pool in his groin.

"How do you do that...?" Tony muttered.

While chaos opened up the airlock, the pilot suddenly became aware of another feeling. The feeling of being watched. Frowning, he turned his head around towards the dock. There weren't many other people around at the moment. It was mostly Durandal crew, judging from all the red uniforms. Probably loitering around between their duties here and the Kukai Foundation. Something he seemed to know a little too much about... But none of them seemed to be paying them any attention at the moment.

He put it out of his mind as chaos dragged him inside the Elsa.


	3. Twisting Threads

Into the Abyss   
by Moonstone 04

---

Author's Notes: This fic contains XS2 spoilers as well as yaoi content, with Tony/chaos as the main focus. You've been warned. This fic is a sequel to "From the Abyss." 

This is the R-rated edition (I guess that's M-rated now?) of this fic. The original, NC-17 version of this fic is only being posted at Xenoyaoi at yahoogroups.

---

Chapter 3 - Twisting Threads

Threads of darkness spun around him, like a monstrous spiderweb come to life. His heart hammered in his chest as he tried to find a way out. This was a dream, he realized, so there had to be a way out. Knowing this didn't make it feel any less real. Nor did it take away the fear.

Somewhere beyond the threads, he saw a black figure standing with his back turned. The figure was familiar... chaos?

Tony tried to call out, but the webs were everywhere, choking him...

"Fool." A voice soft and silky, yet cold as ice. "One way or another, you are ensnared. You thought nothing would ever hold you down, did you not? To always fly free...but it is all an illusion. Would you like to see what it truly is to be free? Tony?"

It sounded like chaos...but no. Something was wrong.

"Or do you enjoy being a puppet dancing to his strings? It is your choice, of course. You burn so brightly...and yet you cling to his whims like a dog. Cut your leash, and I could show you skies without boundaries."

Couldn't see his face. Turn around...

"Consider it."

The webs grew tighter, and Tony panicked silently as it enveloped him.

---

Sweaty and flailing, Tony woke up tangled in his blanket. After a few moments of kicking around, he managed to get it off.

"Damn nightmare..." He mumbled to himself, wiping his face with his hand.

Sitting up, he realized chaos was gone. Again... Disappointment settled in his chest for a few still moments. Then the bed squeaked as he got up. Of course, chaos had said he would arrange the transport for the droids this morning.

Emerging from the cabin several minutes later, he was still troubled by his strange nightmare. It had felt so real, he could remember it as clearly as something that had really happened. He was so lost in thought, that he all but ran into Hammer as he headed towards the bridge.

"You awake?" Hammer grumbled as he pushed the pilot back. 

"I will be." Tony knocked his old friend's hand away. "Where's chaos? We're supposed to be installing the new droids today."

"Yeah, that." Hammer held up a small holopad and lightly smacked it against Tony's shoulder. "chaos just gave this to me to give to you. It's the invoice for the transport ship. You'll have to go to the Kukai Foundation and hand over the verified copy at noon, Foundation time."

"What, they won't accept it over the UMN?" 

"With the military buildup going on in local space, most UMN channels have been locked off." Hammer had an exasperated look. "Unless we wanna be charged extra for the encrypted channel, it has to be hand delivered."

"Terrific." Tony snatched the holopad away from Hammer. "Wait a minute, you said you just saw chaos? Where'd he go?"

Hammer paused for a moment, giving Tony a hard, annoyed stare. 

"Well?"

Hammer gave a long suffering sigh. "You know I don't care what you and chaos do when the rest of us are trying to work, but I really wish you'd consider that I have to sleep in there too, and it's hard as hell to get any rest when you two are getting up throughout the night-"

"Hammer!" Tony resisted the urge to smack him upside the head. "I don't have time for this right now. Where's chaos?"

The navigator visibly gave up, slumping his shoulders. "Just left with Canaan. Something about some Vector equipment in a secret transport. Apparently we're not supposed to talk about it, if you get my drift." His disgruntled expression fell into intrigue. "Sounds kinda exciting..."

Tony gave a short laugh. "That's one way of putting it. The last time top secret Vector equipment came on-board, it hijacked the ship. And look where it's gotten us. Well, I only hope it's as nice to look at as KOS-MOS." He headed out to see if he could catch chaos. "Later, Hammer."

Leaving the Elsa, he didn't even reach the dock before running into a guy in a Vector uniform. The man blinked in surprise, then broke into a grin and put out his hand.

"Oh, hello! You're with the Elsa von Brabant, right? I'm Viano, from Vector's Second R&D division. I've been sent to prepare the Elsa."

Tony shook his hand, although Viano didn't seem in a hurry to let go. "Prepare, huh? What exactly is this top secret equipment?" 

"I can't talk about it out in the open like this." Viano grinned, a little too widely. "Is there a more intimate place we could go and discuss this? It's very likely the Elsa will need some special outfitting."

"Uhh..." Tony wasn't sure if he was just seeing things, or if Viano was really coming on to him. He pulled his hand free. "I really can't, there's something I have to see to. But Hammer's still inside, you can talk to him all you want."

"Oh." Viano's smile seemed frozen. "Thanks...um..."

"Tony."

"Tony! Been nice meeting you." The Vector employee nodded and continued past Tony towards the Elsa. For some reason, the guy's forced friendlyness gave Tony the chills. Eh, he would be Hammer's problem now.

Still hoping to catch chaos, he ran out onto the dock. But by now, there was no sign of chaos or Canaan. He stood for a moment, then scuffed his boot into the polished floor of the spaceport. Well, it wasn't like he had any good reason to see them this morning anyway... 

---

Tapping his foot impatiently, Tony waited in the Durandal ferry boarding area. From ferry to ferry, this was so tedious. He couldn't wait until the Elsa was repaired; he much preferred doing his own flying. But this did take him back to his childhood. Back then, he could spend all day on the dock with Hammer, watching the ships fly in. He always knew that some day he would fly out in one and never look back...

"YOU!"

The loud, accusing voice startled him. He immediately recognized it, and turned to smile widely. There was nowhere to run, all he could do was put on the charm and pray she wasn't as angry as she sounded. "G-Ginevra! You're looking as lovely as ever! How've you been?"

A young, dark woman in a red Durandal uniform advanced on him so aggressively that she ran him back into a wall. "Cut the sweet talk! Where have you been the past two months? You haven't so much as called or returned any of my messages!"

"Well baby, that's a really long story..." Tony laughed nervously. 

"Try me." Her voice was like ice cracking. "I'd also like to know what the hell you were doing last night with that pretty boy outside of the Elsa. I've been trying to wash it out of my memory...tell me I wasn't seeing what I think I saw."

"P-Pret-?" Tony's eyes were probably as big as saucers by this point. Damn, Ginevra had a fiery temper. That fiery side made her a firecracker in the sack, but wasn't pleasant to encounter outside of it. "T-That was just... That was just... Hey, what were you doing down on Second Militia anyway?"

"Don't change the subject!" Ginevra snapped. "But if you must know, Master Gaignun has been running back and forth between the Foundation and Second Miltia a lot these days. I'm a member of his private security escort, you know! Not that he appreciates it, he keeps evading us. He's getting as bad as the Little Master."

"You don't say..." Over her shoulder, Tony noticed that the ferry had finally arrived. Just another minute, and it would dock. C'mon, c'mon...!

Ginevra grabbed his face in her hand, so hard he knew he must be making a ridiculous fishface. "Now. I want some answers."

The ferry touched down in a rush of air and swung open. Chimes sang out as people departed the craft, and others jostled together impatiently as they waited to board.

Taking Ginevra's hand from his face, Tony clasped it in both hands. "Sweetheart, you're just on edge from all the excitement lately. You really should take a vacation. Believe me, I'd love to stay and catch up, but I'm kinda on the job right now."

"Tony, don't you dare...!"

"Mwah!" Tony kissed her and quickly scooted out from under her. "Take a raincheck? Catch ya later!" Ignoring the angry shouts that followed, he slipped through the crowd and was the first to board the ferry. The crate couldn't take off soon enough.

---

Walking down the streets of the Foundation, Tony couldn't help looking over his shoulder now and then. After arriving, he was nearly walking backwards for several blocks. Just to make sure Ginevra hadn't followed him down. She had been worse than the last time he'd seen her.

It was really too bad. She used to be a lot of fun. There had been a time when she seemed to understand his situation, and was really cool about it. Now he wasn't sure what to do. He didn't want to hurt her, but she was getting way too aggressive, and not in a good way. Heaving a heavy sigh, he trudged onward. 

Before reaching the Robot Academy, his path was blocked by a huge mess of technical-looking equipment strewn across the dock. It seemed vaguely familiar, but he didn't realize what it was until he heard the Professor arguing loudly with someone. Dodging around enough clutter to make Hammer proud, he found the Professor with a group of men in green jumpsuits. 

"...take it easy old man, you had plenty of warning."

"I demand to speak to Mr. Kukai immediately!"

"What? Come on, don't give us trouble. Master Gaignun was the one who authorized this eviction in the first place. This is just a bunch of junk anyway."

"Junk?"

"Whoa, hold on," Tony broke into the conversation. "What's going on here? We only wanted the droids shipped to the Elsa, what's all this?"

The Professor literally spun around on his rollerblades. "Oh, it's you! Your people are down in the lab with Assistant Scott." He jabbed his finger at the uniformed men. "These scoundrels are evicting us! Evicting the Robot Academy, the defenders of friendship and love! It's a scandal!"

"That doesn't sound like Master Gaignun." Tony thought Gaignun was possibly the most patient man he'd ever known, next to chaos. Otherwise, Captain Matthews and the Elsa crew would have been locked up long ago. "The entire Foundation is still recovering from the gnosis attack. Isn't this a little harsh?"

"Look buddy, this doesn't involve you." Another man in uniform drawled. "We're just doing our jobs. Move along, this isn't a show."

When the the Professor went into another rambling outburst, Tony steered clear of the argument. The righteous words of the old man following him, he headed down into the former Robot Academy. It was still dark as night in there, but he could see shadowy figures inspecting a droid by flashlight. It was Assistant Scott and two men that had to be the transport workers hired by chaos.

As Tony went about the business of signing for the transport, a thought began tickling at the back of his mind. The harder he tried to ignore it, the more insistant it became. He was biting his lip as he shoved the documents back into the hands of one of the transport men. 

"Aw, man, I don't know what we're going to do now." Assistant Scott sighed as the transport men went about their business. "I never thought it would get this bad. We can't even get a permit for a new lab on Second Miltia because of our current situation. I suppose there's other places I could go, but I just can't leave the Professor behind. There's no way out."

Tony shook his head, trying to rid himself of the pesky thought. He had done what he came to do, he really had to get back to the ship. Assistant Scott took it as sympathy, and clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry about us," he said. "We'll get through this somehow."

"Yeah..." The pesky thought had become a dangerous idea, and it was swiftly growing in Tony's mind. He had to get out of there before it was too late. "Good luck, man. I know what it's like."

That Scott had to be crazy to stick around, Tony thought as he hurried up the stairs. The Professor was a real looney; there was no way he was going to be able to talk his way out of this. They were both going to go down together.

But then again, Tony would never abandon Matthews either. Even with that monster debt, and nearly losing his life to it, he wouldn't. So maybe he was crazy too.

The Professor's ranting voice grew louder as he reached the top of the stairs. Without giving them a look, Tony passed by. 

Not his problem. 

The shrill voice now arguing behind him was becoming more desperate by the moment. 

None of his concern.

Now Assistant Scott was trying to intervene, but he only seemed to be making it worse. At this rate, they were going to get arrested.

Matthews would kill him...

One of the transport men was raising his voice now.

Oh God...

Tony's boot scudded to a stop on the pavement. His shoulders hunched, he tried to fight off the impulse that was dragging his feet around. It wasn't working.

"Damn it..." He muttered as he walked back towards the scene behind him.

"Now listen here, you old geezer," the transport guy yelled. "We're-" He suddenly stopped as Tony dropped a hand on his shoulder, hard enough to make his legs buckle. "Oof!"

"Excuse us, buddy, I'll get back to you in a sec." Tony said cheerfully. Then he took the Professor by the shoulder and rolled him aside.

"What is the meaning of this?" The Professor demanded.

Tony grinned, making himself look more confident than he felt. "Look, we're both in something of a situation. I think we can help each other. Just hear me out..."

---

"Slow down! Are you out of your mind?" 

Ignoring the Professor's complaints, Tony went careening through the Spaceport. His eyes scanned the crowd, praying that Ginevra was no longer around. Even if she was, he wasn't stopping. 

"Hey!" The Professor squawked as he was pulled along on his rollerblades.

If he could just get everything done without Matthews noticing... 

"Enough of this!" 

Tony stumbled a few steps as the Professor suddenly yanked out of his grip. He turned around to find the old man had fallen onto his butt, the wheels on his rollerblades still spinning furiously. His round glasses gleaming under the lights, he scowled up at him.

"I can move on my own," the Professor slapped Tony's hand away when he tried to help him up. "I will not be pulled along like a piece of luggage! Now, you'll walk, or I go no further." 

"Fine, fine..." Tony agreed, leading the way. At least the Elsa was in sight now. "Just keep up and don't get lost."

Luckily, they boarded the Elsa without any mishap. Tony was feeling very smug by the time they reached the catapult deck. They had managed to get all the way down there without running into Matthews. Now they just had to wait for Assistant Scott and the transport to arrive with the lab equipment. If everything continued to go smoothly, they might actually get away with it.

"Hey, Tony! What's going on?"

His heart nearly flying out of his chest, Tony saw his life flash before his eyes. Then he realized it was only Hammer. He clutched his chest as he turned to see the navigator coming down the steps after them. "Don't do that!"

"Don't do what?" Hammer frowned in confusion, looking from Tony to the Professor. "Who's this?"

"Yeah, we gotta talk about that." Tony looked over at the old man, who was squinting around at ship. "Professor, wait here, the transports should be arriving soon."

The Professor wasn't even paying attention, his beady eyes were too busy examining the catapult deck. Spinning slowly in circles, he was muttering to himself in a voice too low to hear. 

"Transports?" Hammer asked, before Tony grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back up into the stairwell. "E-Eh!"

Tony looked up and down the stairwell before meeting Hammer's questioning face. "Yeah, there's two transports coming. I kinda agreed to let the Professor build his lab here on the Elsa. So his assistant is going to be arriving soon with the transport bringing all his equipment from the old lab."

"Kinda?" Hammer hissed. "You did... What?"

"Hey, these guys were gonna be tossed out on the street! I know it was stupid, but I couldn't just watch it happen an' walk away!"

Hammer stammered in disbelief, raising his hands a few times as if to speak, finally just giving up and clutching at his hair. 

"Look, it isn't that bad, chaos says this guy is a genius. I got him to agree to modify the ship a little. It'll almost be for free, so that's a good thing, right?" Tony spread his hands out.

This didn't seem to comfort Hammer any. "Y-Y-You're going to let some nutbar you found on the streets modify the Elsa? And what do you mean by 'almost free?'" 

"Well, he said we might have to cover some of the expenses, but I don't think it could be too bad." Tony waved a hand in front of Hammer's glazed eyes. "Hey man, you still in there?"

"The Captain is going to KILL you." Hammer said, suddenly very quiet and calm. "You do know that, right? He's going to chop you up, and feed you to the galley fish."

"Don't be ridiculous." Tony crossed his arms, sounding much, much more assured than he felt. "Besides, the Captain doesn't have to find out yet."

"Dead man." Hammer said in that same cold, calm voice.

"Oh shut up!" Tony yelled, losing his cool in a bluster. "Where is the Captain anyway? I don't want him to find out until we get this all underway. It'll be easier that way."

"Lucky for you, he's not even onboard right now. He ran out an hour ago with that creepy Viano guy to discuss some Vector policies of something or other. It's about those new E.S. units chaos and Canaan brought in awhile ago." 

Tony nodded. "Good, good. I'd better go tell chaos about this too. Keep an eye on the Professor for me. If some guy named Assistant Scott or the droid transport arrives, get them in here as quickly as you can." 

"W-What? Hey, don't get me involved in this!" Hammer yelped as Tony ran up the stairs. His aggravated voice shouted out afterwards, "Damnit, Tony, you're getting to be as bad as the Captain!"

---

When Tony reached the hangar, he boggled at the enormous size of the E.S. units. These things had to be mad powerful, because they sure as hell weren't built for stealth. Beyond the awe, however, he felt a resurgence of fear concerning what they were heading into. Helmer and Vector clearly expected them to need machines of this magnitude.

Finally, he stopped craning his neck, and looked around for chaos. He had thought they would be here with the E.S., but they didn't seem to be anywhere in the front hangar. 

"chaos! Canaan?" Tony called out, but for some reason the E.S. were humming loudly, drowning him out. Definitely not stealth weapons.

It was possible they had already headed out to another part of the ship, but Tony decided to check the aft hangar. When he went in, he noticed immediately that it was darker than usual inside, but at least it was quieter. Usually the portholes near the back were open. He assumed it was an extra measure of security for the E.S. Walking further in, he was about to call out again, since he couldn't see much of anything. But at that moment, he finally saw something that left him speechless.

For a few, endless minutes, Tony was sure his eyes were playing tricks on him. His mind refused to accept that he was actually seeing chaos and Canaan kissing in the shadows of the salvage machinery. They were so close together, that they appeared as one sinuous shape in the darkness.

The terrible spell was broken when chaos gave a soft moan. A new, strange fear beating through his veins, Tony slowly edged away from the two that were oblivious to everything but each other. Spinning around, he walked out, moving faster with each passing heartbeat. By the time he reached the elevator, he was running as fast as he could go.

It still wasn't fast enough.


End file.
